The age of collaboration has arrived

Mar 15, 2012 Editorial

Taking the public into its confidence is the hallmark of a good government. Every plan that a good government conceives involves the collaboration with the public because they are the people whose money would be involved and they are the beneficiaries of any project.
Indeed, the government is merely the representative of the people. Its elected members resulted from the votes of the people and they are expected to act on behalf of the people who put them in office. The system of electing the government differs according to the electoral system. The countries in the Caribbean have a system in which the various constituencies elect their representatives.
By way of this system the people elected have special interest and that interest is rooted first and foremost in the constituency that elects them. This interest supersedes the political party of which they are members. If the people who elect them find that the elected is not acting in their interest they vote them out.
A similar system prevails in the United States and in Great Britain. Some believe that it allows for intense lobbying sometimes to the detriment of the national good. One constituent may seek to attract a major industry so that there could be jobs. Successful lobbying results in re-election of the member.
In Guyana there is no such system. There is a blanket vote for a maximum leader. The government is then expected to act primarily in the interest of the section that gave it the right to rule. It is this right that often leads to calls of discrimination and partisan leadership.
The good thing is that with the global community always policing the governments of developing countries their governments try their utmost to appear to function in the interest of all the people. Sometimes there are large contracts that are intended to benefit the entire country. In Guyana some of these contracts are the Amaila Falls hydroelectric project and the expansion of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.
However, such projects should not be concocted in a vacuum. It may be true that they are for the benefit of the people but sometimes the very programmes need explanation. Fossil fuel powers the national economy for the greater part. The hydroelectric facility would reduce the dependence on such fuel and in the long run, would prove to be cheaper.
However, this was not explained until there was opposition that resulted from the cost of the project. There was no notification and surely no consultation. The government concluded that once is planners have conceptualized the project then the people would have had no option to accept it.
Yesterday, the Donald Ramotar administration took a landmark decision. In the face of the criticisms of the political opposition and sections of the local media, the administration released the various contracts. For the first time the people were being provided with an opportunity to see how their money was being spent.
Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh argued, at a press conference, yesterday, that all the information on the various projects was available in the National Assembly. The various Parliamentarians simply had to ask the questions.
However, in a democratic society, to ask people for information on national projects would be classified as arrogance. The converse should be the norm. The government, having devised a project or a programme, should take the people into its confidence. The people would feel better if the project fails because they had been made aware. If they are not made aware and the project fails the government cannot escape blame for the criticisms, no matter how strident.
Two years after the award of the contract for the Amaila Falls road project and after the signing of the contract for the construction of the facility, the government opted to meet with the parliamentary opposition and explained what was being done. One can rest assured that this would see an end to the criticisms that so dominated the pages of the press as a result of comments and statements by the very opposition members.
Other contracts released by the Ramotar administration are going to be similarly studied and discussed. The country has entered into the age of cooperation and collaboration, something that should have been the norm.
There were brief forays into collaboration—the nationalization of the sugar and bauxite industries and the pursuit of independence. Hopefully, this foray will be permanent.

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The age of collaboration has arrived

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